


wish i could bite my tongue without tasting the blood

by surely_silly



Series: seven, eight, set them straight [1]
Category: Naruto, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Gen, General Education Department Midoriya Izuku, Non-Linear Narrative, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-01-07 16:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12236814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surely_silly/pseuds/surely_silly
Summary: ... but it's too late, too late, too late...Bakugou follows Izuku into that lonely and deserted tunnel.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't know if I'll continue this but it's been burning at me for a week to share so, enjoy?

“ _Oh, yes, you'll do. Guess what, kid? You get to be a hero._ ”

 

 

Terror ices his veins, and the slime makes Katsuki turn, a less than human shape under the darkness of the tunnel. One bulbous eye mocks him from the gloom, and the villain inches closer over Kacchan’s face.

 

 

 _help me, help me, help_ **_me_ ** _—_

 

 

Izuku’s eyes _burn._

 

 

Movement stills, roils to an abrupt and terrifying _stop._ Everything has gone so horrifyingly clear, and the stimulus crashes down on Izuku like a wave of fire, but he holds, trembles. Blood bleeds into the villain's eye, and underneath it all, Kacchan chokes.

“Let go of him,” Izuku stammers, demands, half a croak, half a miserable bark. Scrambles up from where he was tossed like nothing, nothing at all. “ _Let go of him._ ”

There's a wavering pause, confusion and conflict, but then, _finally,_ acquiescence. The slime slips off Katsuki like water, and bundles itself up into a vaguely gelatinous shape barely a step away. The other boy hits the ground, gasping and gagging as the last of the villain oozes up from his throat. Everything is so, so slow. It feels like it takes an eternity.

 

 _Go away, go away, never come back,_ he thinks, a rapid fire repeating of thoughts, the words stuck at the back of his throat, but.

 

Without a word, the villain slithers off into broad daylight, a vivid royal purple under the sun. He watches it go, like a roving puddle suddenly gone astray. Someone shrieks in the distance after the villain's left Izuku’s sight, and he winces, eyes snapping shut.

Everything returns to real time.

“What… What the _fuck,_ ” snarls Kacchan, and Izuku turns halfway away, hunching his shoulders. “What the actual _fuck,_ shitty Deku?”

Izuku’s eyes fly open, hands taking brutal hold of his bookbag straps. He doesn't even _know._ Kacchan growls, and Izuku just doesn't _know._

He runs.

Everything passes as a blessed blur, but home is before him too quickly. Izuku’s out of breath and reeling, body toeing the edge of pure exhaustion. It's like a broken record in his mind, playing over and over, and over in deliberate clarity. Kacchan’s wide eyes and twisted face, slime wrenching away control. He can't _not_ see it, and his hands dig ruthlessly at his eyes, pressing hard and painful.

 _I'm so useless,_ he despairs, and stifles a hiccup. _Useless, and Quirkless—_

No. _No._ That. He did that. The villain left because… because of him. The memory is there, intense and searing, but he can see it. His eyes. His eyes, they…

“Oh! Home already, my sweet little Izuku?” Mom exclaims as he hustles inside, kicks off his shoes without so much as a by your leave. He stalls at her approach, full of restless energy. “Oh dear, what happened to your uniform?”

Izuku pauses, and bile burns at the edge of his mouth. “I, um, got roughed up by a few… classmates,” he says, adds quickly at her alarm, “I'm fine, though! They messed up my notebook, but I'm fine!”

Drowning. He thinks it could only be described as _drowning_. His stomach flips with nausea at the thought.

Mom hugs him, tight. It sends goosebumps rising over his arms. “Oh, I can't wait for you to go to a new school, and make new friends!” she grumbles, and sniffs. “Get actual teachers that care, too!”

Izuku laughs, small and on the edge of _something_. The lights and smells... He needs to, to _check_ — “Me either, Mom.”

She lets him go, and says, “Dinner will be ready soon, why don't you go get washed up?”

The hallway is dark, and despite that he _knows,_ knows there's nothing there, he edges down it gingerly. Izuku shuts himself in the bathroom, muffles a lot of background noise, and winces after he flips the switch. It's a wonder she even believed him. Bruises are dark shadows across his cheeks and neck, and for one wild second, he can still _feel_ the villain wrapping around his head, tight, too tight. Izuku swallows, and blinks blearily at his vaguely bloodshot eyes.

They look no different. Izuku pulls at each eyelid in turn, but he can't find anything… not as it should be. He blinks, and sees then that he's trembling, just the barest. He'd… hypnotized the villain, somehow. Right? That's the only thing he can think of. His eyes had stung, still sting, and time. Time had slowed down.

Maybe it's emotion activated? Izuku frowns at his reflection, a strange calm settling over him. Fear. He's not sure he could _ever_ replicate that level of terror voluntarily, and isn't that just wonderful? He manifests a quirk, and it only works when he's terrified out of his mind. He almost wants to think it's not much better than being quirkless, but it is, it's more than _nothing._ Izuku rubs at his throat, and twists on the facet with his other hand. If he can just figure it out, then… then his dream won't be out of reach. He can be a hero. His thoughts churn furiously as he runs through what he knows of heroes with similar quirks. Eraserhead. An underground hero. Green Light-Red Light, retired, now, but.

 

They're eye based, but not the same. They don't, don't _control_ a person, they don't—

 

Blistering _fire_ shoots across his vision, and Izuku gasps, hands flying up. He stumbles backwards into the towel rack, and metal digs into his back before he catches his footing. He peeks his eyes back open after having reflexively snapping them shut, and, there's something… something wrong with his eye. Blood. Blood now pools around his left iris. A burst capillary. He winces, that eye _throbbing,_ and it scares him because he's not sure that should’ve hurt.

Fumbling, Izuku opens the medicine cabinet and gropes for the ever present eye drops that regularly save his and Mom’s life during spring. Three drops, and it soothes the bulk of the burning, but not all. He flutters his eyes, and then closes the cabinet. Great.

_Great._

It's one thing after another, today.

“Shower,” he mumbles to himself. _Shower._

The hot water works like a balm. Izuku only realizes then that he'd been wound tight like a coiled spring, and the heat melts away some tension and aches. It runs lukewarm all too soon, and he savors it before he gets out. The bathroom is bright, and its soothing when he finally turns it off, rubbing a towel over his head with only the light from the hallway and in fresh clothes he finds on the sink. He blinks a few times experimentally, but nothing happens, and he can easily admit it's a little disappointing.

 _I've got time,_ he tells himself, and flexes his hands to dispel some anxiety.

Izuku can hear Mom turning off the stove as he enters the kitchen, and squints through the sudden increase of light. “Mom, don't freak out, my eye is—” he starts, but it's too late.

She's turning toward him, a large ceramic bowl in her hands. Achingly _slow,_ he sees her startle, and the bowl slip from her fingers. It shatters against the floor in millions and millions of pieces, the shards and curry flying every way, and then she's stepping back in shock and then her foot is _bleeding._

“ _Mom!_ ” he shouts, horror swelling up and up, and lunges forward.

 

 

The bowl doesn't hit the floor, has barely even left her hands, his on hers. Mom still takes a step back, but her hold on the bowl is firm as his hands fall away, stunned.

 

 

“Izuku,” she breathes, eyes wide, “your eyes—”

He can see the lines on her face, the flecks of brown in her own eyes. The minute twitch of disbelief and awe.

Izuku immediately pulls out his phone, fingers flying over the screen. _Click_ goes the shutter, and there it is. His eyes. _His quirk._

Red stares back at him, eyes wide and his bottom lip caught between his teeth. His irises are a blood-like red, bright and oxygenated. Two tiny black…  squiggles circle the pupil in each eye, asymmetrical and blurry.

Izuku blinks, and looks back up at his mom. She looks faint.

“Your eyes,” she repeats, stock still. “Your… your eyes, they were spinning. Like a pinwheel.”

He inhales sharply, startled. “Mom… Mom, I have a quirk,” he whispers, and his phone hits the floor, spots eating at the edge of his vison. “I have a _quirk._ ”

  
_I have a quirk!_

 

Everything runs black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a kudos or comment! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

The letter shakes in his hands. Of course, who was he kidding? Barely a year wasn't enough time, of course…. of course he didn't make the cut.

 

“Izuku?” Mom asks, tentative.

 

_ We regret to inform you— _

 

Izuku swallows, and the vision at the edges of his eyes go blurry.  _ We regret to inform you—  _ “I didn't… I didn't get in,” he says, and he feels like he's miles away. “I didn't get in.”

Mom sucks in a breath, startled. “Oh, sweetheart—”

Was this all for nothing? He'd worked so hard, driven himself to exhaustion and near blindness to, to catch up, and. It was all for naught. Izuku coughs on a sob, and his head begins to hurt. He'd tried so hard. The letter falls from his fingers, flutters like a feather to the floor.

“I'm going to my room,” he chokes out, and he can feel the tears sliding down his cheeks. “I need… I _need_.”

Mom picks up the letter as he turns away. Izuku shuts himself in his room, and immediately he almost regrets it. Heroes stare at him from every corner, and he just feels like even more of a failure. He wants to rip everything down, suddenly, throw figurines and clothes all over the room. It's an itch in his hands, an ache in his teeth, this blistering well of familiar emotion, but he stays it. Izuku breathes in, then out, expelling the anger, the rooted self-loathing. Unproductive. Needless. 

“I can just… apply to other schools,” Izuku tells himself, and it tempts another round of self-deprecation. He's going to miss a semester at this point because he hadn't applied to other schools, too sure, too positive, his best would be  _ enough.  _ “I can still be a, a hero.”

Kacchan’s face appears in his thoughts, and Izuku winces. He'd done his best to avoid the other boy since. Since then, but all Izuku can hear is,  _ I fucking told you so!  _ in his voice, ringing loudly in his ears.

 

_ Is it so bad I'd just wanted to prove them all wrong? _

 

Mom finds him picking absently at the edge of an All Might poster not too long after, sagging despondently in his desk chair. The computer screen is of his time-honored and favorite video of All Might, but paused. He couldn't continue watching without it twisting his stomach into knots.

“Izuku,” she starts, the hall light a shining beam across the wall and his bed, a cleaver to the gloom. “Izuku, did you read the whole letter?”

“I didn't,” he admits, flat, but suddenly apprehensive. What'd have been the point? Forty-four rescue points. Poor practical skills score. Not enough. But. Maybe he'd missed something…?

There's a pause, a paper crinkling. “At the bottom… at the bottom it says, _you'll hear from the_ _General Education Department soon._ And, I looked in the pile and there _was_ another envelope from Yuuei…”

What? Izuku bolts upright, and swivels around in the chair. “What?” he squeaks, heart pounding. He'd checked it and the Support department to have a second and third option to show to the teacher, but. “I… I forgot, but I did, did apply.”

It'd slipped his mind completely. It's second best, but. But. 

Mom flips the lights on, and presents the unopened letter to him, eyes hopeful. “Maybe you got in…?”

Izuku takes it, and stares for just a moment before ripping it open. Something slightly heavier falls out of the envelope, not a letter, but something.

“Please turn out any lights within the next thirty seconds,” asks a high pitched voice, almost robotic, and it flips open into more of a square.

Izuku almost drops it as Mom scrambles for the lights.

The room descends into gloom, and barely a breath later, a beam shoots up from the square.

_ “Congratulations, hero,”  _ says the man that appears, his underbite and crossed scar on his left cheek immediately catching Izuku’s eyes. “I am the hero, Vlad King, Kan, Sekijiro, and I'm here to welcome you to the General Education Department.”

Izuku gapes. 

The man pauses, looking at someone off screen. He clears his throat. “Midoriya, Izuku,” he continues,” we see you. You may not have gotten into the Heroics department, but we believe you are a hero nonetheless, including the young lady you rescued.”

Vlad King gestures to a screen behind him, and it comes to life with the girl he met that day. Izuku can see she's talking to Present Mic, of all people. “This young woman petitioned us directly, and while the Heroics department has no space, we at Gen Ed wish to welcome you with open arms. You, who only just recently manifested a quirk, have shown more bravery than many heroes I have known, and touched others with your spirit.”

 

He's crying again, but it's happy tears this time, and Mom hugs him from the side.

 

“You passed, Midoriya,” Vlad King finishes, smiling, and winks. Shouts, “Plus Ultra!” 

The light blinks out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gen Ed Izuku for the win!!


	3. Chapter 3

_“Oi, are ya listening to me ya bloody bush oyster?"_

 

Shouta rubs tiredly at the back of his head, and All Might stifles a chuckle at his side. Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady blink somewhat dazed nearby as Hizashi tries to yell some sense into the villain. The few civilians who are still around scatter at the noise, and Shouta hums in consideration under the flashing lights of police cruisers.

The sludge villain merely continues ahead and pays none of it any heed. Hizashi yells something else, his frustration building, and even Shouta winces at the volume. They can't get a single word out of him, and it's been a week now. Soon the villain’ll cross into the next city and he won't be their problem anymore but. Oh, if only the villain could have slithered a little faster. Shouta had to cut his nap short, and he's going to suffer through his graveyard shift at this point.

Tsukauchi wanders back over from the cluster of police, and sighs. “You're our last hope, Eraserhead,” he says, and at All Might’s frown, continues, “the only other thing we haven't tried is getting one of our psychoanalysts to give it a try. This… compulsion is strong, to have lasted this long.”

“Perhaps our villain ran afoul a civilian acting in self-defense,” Yagi proposes. “Maybe if we had the media cover it a bit more, they might step forward... I swear I was only just behind him, how could I miss it?”

Shouta blinks, and slides All Might an incredulous look. “That doesn't seem likely at this point. You would probably have more luck scouring the Quirk registration list,” he counters blandly, and nudges at his goggles. Hizashi throws his hands up out of the corner of his eyes. “If his eyes are any indication, it can't be too common a quirk. Have you figured out the villain's identity?”

The detective shakes his head. “No, and we are scouring the registrar, but we've had no leads,” he admits, “ and either he's not from here or his quirk was not truly registered, if at all. He just seems to be… trying to get away. Kamui Woods can attest to that, at least. Whenever he's moved further back into the city he struggles, but if he's moved to avoid traffic but forward, he’s compliant.”

All Might rubs his chin, but offers no more ideas. Not that Shouta has any ideas. Some sort of compulsion quirk, perhaps used in self-defense, or not. Most he's ever encountered stop working at physical stimulus, but there's always something new cropping up.

 

What a pain.

 

“ _This is completely useless_ ,” Hizashi complains as he slinks over. “ _The clack_ —”

“Thank you for your assistance, Present Mic,” All Might says, pointedly in Japanese, and Hizashi ducks his head, but there's no heat to it. Shouta should know, the two swap vulgar words when they have the time and no innocent civilians to hear. “Eraserhead is here now to make his attempt.”

Hizashi huffs, the sound a few octaves higher than it should be. “Yeah, yeah. Good luck, pal.” Shouta takes the shoulder pat without complaint. “His creepy eyes didn't even _look_ at me.”

Creepy is, perhaps, not the word Shouta would use. Frightening, given certain circumstances, yes, but creepy? No. Whoever has this quirk is sure to have heard that before, but all he can think is how much _potential_ it could have. “You think butterflies are creepy,” he counters, amusement kept inward as Hizashi sputters denial. Shouta pulls at his scarf, end loose in his hand. This'll work, or it won't. “Well. Here goes.” 

The sun fully disappears behind the cityscape, and the streetlights flicker on. Shouta plants himself in the villain's path, and looks up, eyes straining with the activation of his quirk.

The villain’s eyes glow a bright and bloody red.


	4. Chapter 4

Izuku tries to draw up a grin, and the result is brittle and unsure, but enough.

The straps are a little snug, and it'll take some getting use to how the rims sit on his face, how it obstructs his peripherals and doesn't budge to shifting muscles. He tugs at the bit just above his left ear, and pulls a couple locks of hair free. Yeah. It'll take some getting use to.

“How… How do I look?” Izuku asks, and his reflected eyes spin active but lazily. Immediately, he has to withhold a grimace, but the red of his vision brightens and then fades just as quickly. “Can you…”

Mom beams through the mirror. “Can't really see the change in color,” she says, squints, and then nods. “I think you'd have to be looking to see it happen, but even the squiggles are hard to notice.”

The goggles are blocky, but the lens are wide and tinted red. He doesn't know what the exam will be like, but it's not bad to be prepared, right? Izuku blinks his quirk away, and pushes the goggles up into his hair. Oh God. The exam’s today. He takes a shaky breath. The exam’s _today._  His vision goes blurry, and he scrubs the tears away with a stubborn huff. _Oh God_.

Arms wrap across his shoulders, and he presses his face into Mom’s on his left, cheek to cheek, after a wavering moment. The urge to flinch would scare her, would twist his stomach into more knots that it already is. His bandaged hands come up and grip her forearms, lightly, gently. Solid flesh and bone. Izuku inhales, exhales a fine tremble. Oh God.

“You're gonna do fine,” she says, and squeezes a little tighter. “I believe in you, okay?”

_I can do this,_ he tells himself, nods, and just. Just breathes. _I can do this._

It's what he repeats to himself all the way there, through the train ride, through the walk up to the gates. And even after he falls on his face, even after he gets reamed for mumbling, even after he spots Kacchan sitting not too far way.

 

_I can do this,_  he tells himself.

 

All the way up until the first robot takes a swipe at him, at least, and he flails backwards onto the ground with a bone rattling _thud_.

Dirt and dust flies as he rolls out of the way with a yelp, a shiny metal foot stomping down where he was barely moment before. Izuku can see the claw shooting for his head, and then the roundhouse kick that throws the machine away. The boy with the glasses from earlier follows in its wake, engine legs shooting him back into the fray, and Izuku swallows thickly as he scrambles up amid the fighting and yells, the stimuli running his eyes into overtime with all the moving bodies and attacking robots.

He can't react fast enough. Not fast enough to do anything but _dodge,_ and Izuku swallows back a frustrated sob at the thought. Dammit. _Dammit._

An explosion flares somewhere off to his left, and Izuku runs in the other direction. Okay. Okay. Just, just think. There's gotta be something else he can do, right? There's plenty of Heroes with non-combative quirks. There's gotta be something—

A flash of light on grey, and Izuku ducks under the grasping claw of yet another robot. It wheels around, red camera eye flickering, and takes another swipe for his legs, but he can't dodge this time, rubble and broken rubar littering a half circle behind him, and he does the only thing he _can_ do.

Wait for it. Wait for the right moment, and—

Izuku jumps, the robot’s claw just skimming the soles of his feet and stabbing into the ground, and lands on its arm.

 

_Oh God._

 

With a whir, his perch jerks back, and Izuku wobbles, takes a running step forward, and tumbles head over heels down its back. Rocks and concrete stab into his hands, dig painfully through even the thick soles of his shoes, but he's halfway upright, and then running before the robot manages to turn around.

_Is this all I'm good for?_ Izuku wonders miserably, dust thick and brown in the air. He trails to a stop, shirt pulled up over his nose, and looks around, heart fluttering like a caged bird. _Is it?_

Somewhere an alarm begins to blare, and the very air is cleaved in two.

“ _Here it comes!_ ” rings loud and disorientingly jarring. Everything doubles, and his head suddenly _throbs._ “ _T_ _he zero point robot approaches—better think fast!_ ”

A river of people rush by him, pushing, shoving, blurry and formless. Izuku stares horror struck at the monstrosity that looms into view too far above his head. The ground shakes, and he barely holds his footing as it turns, blotting out the light.

 

Then he sees her.

 

The world trembles, and tunnels in on the girl not running, curled on scattered rubble. He sees her. Her leg’s trapped, and he can see her pulling at it, face drawn up in fear.

It's almost on her, and before he can even _begin_ to think better of it, Izuku’s running. His vision runs into excruciating detail, blood roaring and muscles straining, but he doesn't stop, just thinks, _What can I even do?_

The zero point robot presses forward, and he skids to an unsteady stop before it, stares up and up, hopes beyond hope this won't end in disaster.

_Zero points,_ he realizes, breath stuttering, _I have no points._

“H-Hey, run away,” the girl says at his feet, foot caught under rubble, but he doesn't.

Izuku drops, fingers curling under the concrete and above her ankle, and _heaves_. It doesn't budge. _C'mon, c'mon_ , he thinks, bile scratching at the back of his throat, and vision begining to swim. His arms protest, flaring with the strain, but he pulls, pushes, and it just doesn't _move._

The girl tugs at his sleeve, and when he looks, her face twists likes she's sick. “It's okay, it's just, just a test, they wouldn't—”

They… they wouldn't. Izuku reels at that. They _wouldn't_. It's a test. But. It's a test to _show off._ The points matter but… if the point is to show off, it means they're watching. _Not all the points can be earned by just destroying the robots._

He stifles a strangled twitter. Too little, too late.

 

_I have no points—_

 

Darkness swallows them up, and everything rattles. She gasps, rubble shifting at the quake, and Izuku scrambles upright, looks up and up.

It looms, beetle bright camera red eyes finding his. They flicker, and Izuku’s heart stumbles as everything decides to falter, blur at the seams and _seize._

 

_Please,_ he thinks, _stop_ —

 

It’s almost funny when it freezes, a chorus of creaking joints against momentum and inertia, concrete breaking between its giant fingers. He sees how its sleek panels shine, how its lights go dark.

 

It's almost funny until he sees it fall.

 

Izuku’s moving before he knows to, thoughts falling behind as he lunges for the girl, arms weaving under hers. She whimpers, foot coming free, and he pulls them both up, whips around.

In his mind's eye, Izuku sees the robot's knees buckle, and behind them air rushing forward, shaking everything like the whole world is falling apart, but.

  
Too quick to yell, their feet leave the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing long chapters is interesting?? but anyway, thanks for all the comments and kudos, i really appreciate them!!!


	5. Chapter 5

“1-C,” Izuku mutters, pausing at a door. 1-A mares the wall in bigger than life letters, and he studiously ignores the twinge of bereft it gives him. “If this is here then…” Further down? He looks down the hall, and then at his schedule. A map would have been nice. “Maybe…”

 

“Oh! It's you!”

 

Unprepared, Izuku jumps, crumpling the schedule in his hand. “Me?” he yelps, and whirls around.

A girl grins at him, light on her feet as she strides closer. “You made it! I'm so glad,” she says, and it takes an embarrassingly long moment for the memory to surface, for him to place her. Izuku tenses, blinks. “Are you nervous? We're both here early, but oh, where are my manners, I'm Uraraka Ochako! Thank you for before.”

Oh. She thinks…? “M-Midoriya, Izuku,” he stammers, and nervously adjusts the goggles around his neck. “It, It wasn't a problem… um, I didn't—I'm in Gen Ed.”

Uraraka blinks, and her disappointment is a near tangible thing. “But we were in the same exam…?”

He can only shrug, mortification twisting his stomach into knots. “At least… I made it in,” Izuku offers, lamely, and fiddles with the hem of his uniform. If he could just disappear right now, that'd be great. “Congratulations, though, on, y’know…”

Her face twists, in pity, in genuine sympathy and offense, Izuku doesn't know. Isn't sure he wants either or.

It doesn't matter, in the end. There's a familiar scoff, and Izuku startles, badly. In all his usual aggravated glory, Kacchan glares at him from over her shoulder. How long had he…?

“Shitty Deku,” Kacchan sneers, just as Uraraka turns, and Izuku flinches as he pushes between them, “couldn't cut it like the fucking loser I knew you were, huh?”

Long enough, unfortunately. Izuku doesn't reply, lips drawn tight and hands curling, but Uraraka gapes, her newfound excitement draining away, eyes wide. Thunder clouds her face, and she puffs up.

“That's completely uncalled for,” she snaps after Kacchan, riled. Izuku tries to clear his throat, but it's more of a aborted cough, and shakes his head back under her attention. “Well, it's true! You two may know each other, I'm assuming, but that was super rude.”

Izuku can feel the blood rushing to his face. No one's ever defended him from Kacchan before, but. It's just not worth it. “It's… fine, I'm used to it,” he says, and over her shoulder he can see more students arriving. Future heroes. Just like him. “Um, it was nice to see you again, I hope we see each other around? But I need to find my classroom, so…”

 

Kacchan is going to be a great hero, too, y’know? No need for Izuku to, to ruin that.

 

She nods, suddenly determined and steely eyed. “Yeah, maybe for lunch or something?” she says, not like a question, and then pulls out her phone. “Here, let's exchange emails.”

Too stunned to do anything but obey, Izuku gives her his address and a shaky farewell before turning away. Laughter and greetings bubble up as he ventures the rest of the way down the hall, and Izuku bites the inside of his cheek.

 _Oh well_ , he thinks, lips twisting with a brief grimace.

He passes 1-B, the noises coming from the doorway loud and boisterous. Izuku staves off taking a peek inside, briefly curious if all the classes are as energetic. He has to wander for another ten minutes before he finds 1-C at the changeover from Heroics to Support, an unassuming doorway with the class identification stenciled thick atop the over large doorway.  

It's worrying that the door is shut, and Izuku approaches it cautiously, gives the splitting hallway brief looks in either direction. It's empty save him, and unease crawls up his spine. He jiggles the handle, gently, and it turns, unlocked. He snatches his hand back before he can push it open, instead pressing his ear to the door.

Silence.

Well. Okay. Izuku looks up each way of the halls again, and bites his lip, and then looks down. A yellow slip of paper sits at his feet, and he frowns at it.

“Maybe… it fell off,” he mumbles, and picks it up, turns it over.

 

 

It's a note, and it says, _Ever played Sardines? You have until next block to find me before I find you, and you can work in teams of three. Whoever doesn't find me gets punished!_

_Signed,_

_H.D._

_ps. A little competition never hurt anyone!_

 

 

And then there's a little drawing of a puppy. It's… cute, if crudely drawn.

Izuku frowns. ‘H.D.’ A puppy. The schedule says ‘Inui Ryo’ is the homeroom teacher, but. The initials don't match, though it could the an alias. It's got to be a Pro, he figures that much, so he should… know, hopefully. With a dog motif?

“H.D,” he says, sounding it out. “H… D…”

A dog? Maybe… Hound Dog? Izuku rereads the note, and lets his quirk bleed to life just for a moment. There are small indents in the tiny square of paper, but someone took the time to smooth them over, so they could be from claws. But. Blood King did appear in his welcome video, and he has sharp nails. The puppy drawing, though, really… clenches it.

Excitement rushes Izuku, washing away a bit of nerves and wary cloud. They really do employ all Pros, don't they? Even top tier search and rescue heroes like _Hound Dog._

“Oh… my god,” he whispers, near reverent. This is a dream come true, the realization finally sinking in. “Oh my god.”

And already their first test. Izuku carefully smooths the note back onto the door, and shifts his bookbag.  _I can do this,_  he tells himself, musters up some determination. _I'll become a great hero._

But first. He's got to find Hound Dog.

"I'm on my way," he says to the empty hall, hands curling. _I'm on my way_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a little hard flip flopping between two Izukus on a simialr side of who he was in the beginning of the series with disregard to who he is now, y'kno? I really enjoyed writing the next chapter though, so here's a hint: Explody Mckills!


	6. Chapter 6

“What the fuck?”

It's lunch time, and with his usual tagalongs absent, Katsuki meant to spend the hour catching up on homework somewhere no one else would be around to waste his time like the fucking extras they are. So. Here he is. Looking for that loser-less space, bookbag on his shoulder and lunch in hand, when the usual target of his ire wanders into his path like a fucking tool.

“What the fuck,” he repeats, eyes narrowing, but the shitty Deku doesn't even deign him a glance.

Oh, so he thinks he's better than Katsuki now, huh? He hasn't trailed at his heels since they were attacked. Since the little shit decided his helped was _needed_ by Katsuki, of all people. He hadn't needed it, and the reminder pisses him _off_. Katsuki’s been trying to corner him for weeks now, to impress upon him their roles in life. Again. Because the fucker can't seem to get it through his stupid little head.

It barely takes two long strides to catch up and snatch the loser’s shoulder, palm igniting with a shower of sparks. “Think you can avoid me?” Katsuki snarls, and—

 

 _What the fuck,_ he thinks, unprepared, just before the pain hits.

 

His lunch is on the floor, bookbag just clinging in the crook of his arm, and Katsuki presses a hand to his mouth, jaw stinging. Above him, Deku rears back, face twisted and fist curled tight, but eyes.

His eyes are distant, misplaced. Fuck. _Fuck_. Katsuki doesn't know that look, and here he thought he had the nerd pinned down to a tee.

“Don't think just because—” he starts, spits, and then stops when, strangely, Deku sways almost as if unsteady, and then picks up his flung bento.

Katsuki watches as Deku holds the box, an unsettling pause. The aggression is gone, face gone bland but vaguely worried, chewing for some fuck all reason, and then. Then he wanders past back the way they came. Like Katsuki isn't right there. Isn't worth _noticing._

He scrambles up, and doesn't care to question the odd path the loser takes, just yells, “This doesn't change anything! You're just a shitty Deku, remember that!”

 

_Don't think just because you have a Quirk now that this changes anything!_

 

Because Katsuki knows what he saw.

Because he can still feel the phantom press of sludge over his head, slogging down his throat, and wrenching him sideways. Can still remember the demon red that had stared back up at him from too wide eyes.

Spinning. Spinning. _Spinning._

With a growl, Katsuki snatches up his bookbag, and shoots one last glare down the hall where Deku disappeared.

 _Fucking Deku,_  he seethes, and palms his jaw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been doing very well writing long stuff, but I am a creature of writing a full story in less than 500 words, so, try not to be too shocked by short word counts, please!
> 
> Also, I'm like the somewhat-disagree to disagree option on Bakugou b/c man the bully-to-redemption trope sucks cos I do not like bullies, at all, especially when they get to be front and center a good protion of the time and be, y'kno, a fucking bully without any repercussions. I don't mind his character outside of that, but. Yeah. 
> 
> (Min*ta can go choke however...)
> 
> I love all the comments and kudos, though, thank you all so much! Happy holidays to everyone, and hopefully I'll update again before the new year!


	7. Chapter 7

Yoarashi will gladly admit that earning first place once more leaves nothing but a bitter taste in his mouth, that he cannot find it in him to feel a single ounce of sympathy for the boy who ends up expelled, that it doesn't absolutely _grate_ that all Todoroki stills sees him as is a stepping stone toward the something that is greater. He doesn't hold such lofty aspirations as Bakugou to make it to Number One, no. No, that's not his end goal, and, really, he's not sure it should be anyone’s, what with all that he’s seen in the slip of a few months. But. He looks at his fellow classmate ambling slowly along before they return to class, and all he wants to see are future Heroes.

 _Shoulda gone to Shiketsu_ , he thinks to himself, but shakes off that regret as quickly as it crosses his mind.

“Good job, everyone!” he crows instead, Kirishima and Kaminari echoing him just as loudly. Grinning, Yoarashi smacks hands with Hagakure and Koji. “I cannot wait to get to know you all more; I want to see your hot spirits grow and bolster!”

Iida pushes up his glasses before wiping at the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. “Likewise, Inasa,” he says, a faint confusion dusting his stern face. “The versatility of your quirk is quite admirable, I will admit.”

Heat coils at Yoarashi’s collar, and he rubs at the back of his head with a chuckle. “And I can say the same of you,” he returns, looks away slightly. C’mon, it's not like he's fishing for compliments or anything. “All of you, really…”

Rikido cracks a smile. “Bashful, humble, all around nice guy, are you?” he says, and, at his side, Koji snickers.

“Unlike Bakugou, hm?” Asui croaks blandly, and said classmate snarls at them before stalking further ahead. “Prickly.”

Uraraka’s the only one who really watches him go, much to Yoarashi’s curiosity, her face drawing into a frown. Something happened earlier, he's sure of it, even though all he's got to go on is the darkened profile of her face and the weary and wary face of the other student he saw her talking to right before class.

“Hey, hey, Uraraka, weren't you talking to the kid who took out the zero point robot in our exam earlier? I saw from afar, and it just went down, blam, just like that” Kirishima says, smacking a fist to palm, and immediately, everyone slows even more in an attempt to bring themselves in better hearing range. Even Shoji. “What's his name? What's his quirk? I bet it's manly as hell.”

She huffs, and lets Ashido bounce around her before saying, “I don't really know his quirk, but his name is Midoriya Izuku; He's in Gen Ed.”

“What?” Kaminari says, drawing it out. “I thought he'd be in 1-B, at least.”

Huh. Yoarashi blinks. Todoroki took out the zero point in their exam, but placed second, overall. Does that not factor in being placed in the Heroics department? A dark thought flutters by, but he squashes it before it can fully form and fly away with all his hopes and dreams. It must, somehow. He's not sure he'll like the alternative.

“Me too,” she agrees, and then briefly pats at a nonexistent pocket, “he saved me from it. I'm hoping to catch him for lunch. “

“A great idea,” Yoarashi says without meaning to, all eyes suddenly on him. Ah. He should work on that. “He might get to move up... I heard that you can do that here: go from Gen Ed to Heroics, if there's space.”

Which there is now, though no one says it out loud, but its clear they're all thinking it. Minoru was… not well liked for all of the hour and half they had in his company. Yoarashi stifles a shiver. What sort of moral ethics do they not hold to bar here. Or. Aizawa was that screening. Maybe. He hopes so.

“— _out!_ ”

Yoarashi hears the startled ribbit too late. Surprise rises in a chorus, and he hits the ground with a grunt, and the body on him scrambles, flails, skinny elbows punching hard into his stomach. He wheezes, arms flying up, and pushes the kid off him in reflex, wind blowing him up and over. The air billows out, dismayed yelps and squeaks, shuffling all those close away.

“Sorry!” squeaks the boy, eyes wide behind thick and red goggles, as he picks himself up. Yoarashi rolls over with a wince. “I'm, I'm so sorry—”

“ _Midoriya!_ ” yelps another voice, and then there's a squeal.

“ _He's gaining on us!_ ”

It's the most bizzare thing. ‘Midoriya’ pales, eyes _spinning_ behind the lens, and bolts upright. A girl shoots past, careening uncaringly through his classmates, and latches onto his arm. She drags him further down the hall, despite her much shorter legs, to where another boy jogs in place. Yoarashi pushes himself up just as they dart around the corner and out of sight.

“Hey, wasn't that—”

A howl pierces the air, and those still standing part in panic, arms flailing and pinwheeling. A blur of red leaps over a downed Yaoyorozu and Kyouka, and calls back with a, “Sorry about my students!” before racing down the hall, mane of hair flying wildly.

The figure disappears from view with nary a glance back, and.

Honestly, this clenches it. “I love this place,” Yoarashi breathes, grinning so hard his cheeks hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as an FYI, I write on mobile for reasons, and so sorry if my work looks funny on computer!
> 
> Happy Holidays and happy new year! See y'all in 2018!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *jazz hands*

This is what the application tells Ryo:

_Midoriya, Izuku_. He’s fourteen years old with a mother and father, a mild telekinesis quirk and fire breathing quirk respectively, the latter posted abroad. No reported school incidents, and very respectable grades, nothing very outstanding. The first bit is questionable, but Ryo idly notes it and continues, flips the page. Slightly above average weight, possible self training, a happy-ish face, clean clothes, and. His blood type is O, he ranked tenth on the Entrance Exam, and, up until about a year ago, he was Quirkless.

That's what initially peaks his interest. Late bloomers are not necessarily… unheard of, but. In the accompanying file, it says quite clearly, _Extra Joint_ _pinkie toe._ The kid shouldn’t have a Quirk, according to the world’s leading scientists. Ryo’s almost surprised the kid hadn’t already been snatched up and promised a nice bundle of cash to be studied. Almost. But. _But._

Of course, he’s watched the footage carefully, and seen that the puppy received not a single villian point and clearly struggled with his newfound Quirk. Non-combative is a nice word, dressed up and all, but. It’s the fact that, out of hundreds of participants, Midoriya was one of a messy handful to even receive rescue points. That. That right _there,_ that’s what really drives it home.

All but two got gobbled up by their chosen departments, but Ryo’ll be _damned_ if he’s going to let these kids slip between his claws.

“I want this one,” he says, and slaps the file down, teeth bared. Sekijirou squints at him before eyeing the file. Ryo’s lip curls higher. “You can’t have him. The Support Department either.”

With a huff, Sekijiro lifts his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I won’t poach,” he says, the tips of his underbite fangs poking out with his smile. “Being picked by you promises that the kid should be interesting, at least.”

Ryo nods. Good. “He’s mine now, no take backs,” he shoots toward the other end of the table. Shouta doesn’t even grace him with a look, intent on other applicants. Not that the kid made it into the Heroics department, too many juicy morsels with higher scores, which, yeah, it’s a shame, but.

 

_He’s mine now,_ Ryo thinks, just this side of gleeful instead of disgruntled, and reaches for the next file labeled _Shinsou Hitoshi,_ carefully places _Midoriya Izuku_ atop _Abe Benjiro_ and his choice stack of eight, now nine.

 

“Scary... I fear for these kids, Allah have mercy on their souls,” mocks Sekijiro, and Ryo snaps his teeth at the man, hair ruffling in mock offense. Off to the side, Ken sighs and shuffles his own papers. “Just kidding, Ryo. I know you already love your new puppies. Wouldn’t hurt a hair on their heads, you wouldn’t.”

Annoyance getting the better of him, Ryo knows that he’s lost hold to his tongue when a half-hearted growl leaves his mouth instead of words. Sekijiro chuckles, and begins to reach for  _Shinsou Hitoshi_. With snarl, he snatchs _Midoriya_ up again and swats the offending fingers, and.

Almost immediately, from between manilla sleeves, a sheet flies out, slipping with a loop into the air, and then off the table and onto the floor. With a glare at Sekijiro, Ryo leans over and picks it back up, mindful of his claws. The kid’s Quirk reAssessment sheet, he finds, skimming the words _bright red_ and _hypnosis_ , and resolves to look it over in better detail later, putting it back with the rest of the file before dragging _Shinsou Hitoshi_ closer, daring Sekijiro to try again.

The other man just looks back at him innocently, as if _who, me?_ Ryo isn’t fooled. Sekijiro hasn’t fooled him since before junior high, the cat-turd. With a brief chatter of his teeth, he opens the file and makes a studious attempt to ignore him _and_ their disloyal coworkers stifling snickers.

Honestly, Ryo needs new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I tell y'all I wrote myself into a corner?  
> Well, I did, so fair warning, if you don't like original characters much, you'll hopefully be seeing enough of some to hopefully care about them :3c  
> (also... if i identified him right... wtf is Hound Dog's hero costume... a muzzle????)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *jazz hands*
> 
> [sharingan!deku](https://78.media.tumblr.com/a751f4c680f2a31aaf45056168616b5c/tumblr_pc37oiZsvG1qeaea3o3_1280.png)  
> [goggles!](https://78.media.tumblr.com/9dc155b945fd393aa11e7c51d0a32bd3/tumblr_pc37oiZsvG1qeaea3o1_1280.png)

The bracelet is unobtrusive, a muted but polished silver with red accents. It's lightweight and fragile, definitely not Hero work grade material, and it bumps strangely against the bone of his wrist. Something to get used to, obviously, but. Izuku just doesn't know how to feel about it.

He can rationalize it, as in it makes sense. The amount of information that his quirk records, processes, and then seemingly stores for _forever_ is ridiculous. Izuku’s going to remember everything he sees when it's active and that’s. That’s a somewhat terrifying prospect. It's to be expected, really, that it comes with drawbacks.

Goggles, or a visor of some sort, are a necessity. Maybe a mask? He chews on the cap of his pen, and scratches out _Mask?_ in thick ink. No, not a mask, his field of vision is too important. Izuku grumbles, and brushes the glasses on his face up with his shoulder, unwilling to put down pen or notebook. Something better than sunglasses, definitely.

Can’t offer the world a smile from behind a mask, after all...

His leg jumps, restless, and he shoots the room at large a curious but wary look. Children dart this way and that, quirks flared, and their parents trail after them clearly harried. He watches one little girl split a rock in half between her teeth to the amusement of a small clique. Mom rubs his shoulder, and Izuku ducks his head, draws his bottom lip between his teeth. Maybe a helmet? It’d protect his eyes _and_ his head, but how exactly can he work in, well. _Y’know._

Speaking, _of._ Izuku frowns, brows furrowing. All Might’s been appearing less and less. He doesn’t think it’s overtly obvious, but it’s there, an unfortunate connection he’s been making as of late. It’s not as obvious without his quirk active, but he thinks his need to analyse and determine has gotten worse. That’s not a, a _bad_ thing, just… somewhat tiring.

“— _one’s going to be talking about this for a very long time, I suspect,_ ” reports the TV in the corner, and Izuku glances up at it. _“It’s been three months, and still Heroes cannot seem to put a halt to this villain’s unbelievable march. I’m Norimichi Joben, and I’m on-site with number three hero_ —”

 

_Oh._

 

The pen falls from his hand, the noise swallowed up by the triumphant cry of a kid with a mutant-type quirk, the noise shrill and sharp, as he buzzes his insect wings. On screen, Hawks looks anything but ruffled, serene as the villain withers within his grasp, feathers a cascading torrent around—

A heaviness settles in Izuku’s lungs, stutters his breath. He’s standing before it even registers, the roar of blood overly loud in his ears, and the sludge turns, bulbous eye a horrific pinwheel red.

Oh. Oh _no. Tight, too tight_ —

His quirk spins to life, and the immediate sensory input makes Izuku grit his teeth. There’s a tug on his sleeve, but he can’t, _can’t._

 _Stop,_ Izuku thinks, heart beating like a drum against his ribs. _Stop!_

Nothing happens. Hawks turns away as the villain manages to seep from between his feathers, the reporter and camera ushered back by surrounding police, a few other Heroes dotted in, and _nothing happens._ Tears prickle at his eyes, and Izuku wants to yell. He never... he never meant for  _this! Stop!_

The cameras switch over, the news anchors sat behind their desks and considering the next segment, and Izuku stares ahead in disbelief.

There’s got to be a way to stop the, the hypnosis, right? If he started it, he should be able to end it, right? His thoughts race, the logistics tumbling over and over itself. Maybe he’s too far. Maybe. Maybe he just can’t undo it, _not yet?_  But he can’t get to Kyushu to check—

 

“ _Izuku._ ”

 

His name pierces through his frantic haze, and Izuku blinks, taken aback. Mom tugs harder on his sleeve. “Izuku, it’s your turn,” she says, concern shadowing her eyes. There’s no fear, she didn’t _see_ — “Izuku?”

He can’t. “M-Mom,” he stutters, and then he notices the chill of a quiet room. Eyes and eyes look at them, _at him,_ and a horrid crawling itches just beneath his collar bone. “I, I can’t. _I can’t._ ”

Whatever she must see in his face must be enough to convince her without him saying it outloud. _I can’t do this, I’m sorry._ “Okay,” she murmurs, and brushes her hand with his. It’s then he notices one of the assistants standing by the backroom door, clipboard in hand, eyes wide. “I’ll go set you up another appointment, you can go wait outside, alright?”

It’s all he can do to nod, to not run from the room and the curious and prying eyes. Shoulders up to his ears, Izuku pushes up his sunglasses and flees the Quirk Therapy clinic.

He takes the stairs two at a time, just barely keeping his balance, and bundles out into sunlight. It’s only marginally better. Izuku makes a beeline for the nearest bench, dropping onto it carelessly. His sunglasses slip off an ear, and he tugs them back to right, fingers trembling. _Stupid. Stupid!_ Tears struggle free, salty and unwanted. Izuku sucks down a rough breath before pushing the glasses up and scrubbing at his face with the collar of his shirt.

There’s only one option left: tell a hero. It’ll be the end of Izuku’s hero career before it even started, but he can’t, can’t just leave the villain stuck, trying to _go away._ He can’t do that, it wouldn’t be right. It’s been too long for self-defense, right? If he’d only paid closer attention, he would have came forward _sooner._

Cheap metal bounces on his wrist, and once more he looks at the bracelet, at the plain _Epilepsy_ engraved along the thin plate. All he can feel now is defeat.

What if he can’t even stop the hypnosis? What if it’s been too long? What if that’s just a side effect of his quirk? What had he been thinking?

 

_Go away, go away, never come back!_

 

Izuku sniffs, eyes lidded as he leans forward, hand in his hair. Physical stimulus, he’s sure the heroes tried that. Mental could be tricker, but they have to have _someone_ in employ that could do it. But. If none of that worked... that means it has to be deeper than that, maybe even intertwined with the complex point process theory.

 _An electrical shock might work,_ he thinks, because that’s how cellphones work.

They sort signals by frequency, and neurons do that too. If only one frequency is disrupted when there’s two or three going off at once, then only that one gets interrupted and the other two keep on chugging along. The sludge villain is a mutant-type, his quirk passively _always_ active. An electrical shock should, maybe, interrupt his quirk factor too. Does that mean his quirk would have a harder time against emitter and transformation type quirks? Which, would mean… that people could be conscious of the whole ordeal… maybe. And, if they activate their own quirk, they could potentially... free themselves, depending on, well, the quirk itself. Which—

No. Izuku shakes his head. He has to, to tell someone. A hero, or the police? He glances around, but nobody stands out. He can’t quite remember who patrols this area exactly, but. The police then. Yeah, he can do that—

And, then, he sees it. Hidden by the mouth of an alley, and plastered with who knows how many flyers, a payphone.

His mouth goes dry. Izuku really doesn’t want to get into trouble; Mom doesn’t deserve it. With a nervous glance around, he eyes the one camera pointed toward the counselling clinic’s front. It’ll look weird, but if he can just sidle around without drawing _too_ much attention to himself…

Standing, he pats at his pockets, finding the loose change in his left, and swallows thickly.

  
_help me, help me, help_ **_me_ ** —

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uh, hear about that galaxy bought in honor of All Might? yeah, good stuff, good stuff...  
> sorry for the wait, but i have so many ideas, and one shots have always been my bread and butter... but i still love this idea so! yeah! hope y'all like the art I drew...


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! I do love this idea a lot, don't get me wrong, but I've come to the conclusion I can't finish it! But fear not. Why? Because I'm gonna dump all the ideas I wrote and didn't finish right here and talk about what I wanted to do and most likely won't!
> 
> (I'm also sorry if you got really excited about the word count...)
> 
> Thanks for all your kudos and comments, they mean so much to me! Every single one!

> Kacchan follows Izuku ~~under~~  into that lonely and deserted ~~bridge~~ tunnel. 

 

I totally though it was a bridge at first... but it's a tunnel under a road? Not a bridge. Though bridge did sound better...

 

> Quirk: Mirror Wheel Eye; user’s eyes turn red, and gain little tomoes aroubd the pupil. Despite the impossible, the eyes can rotate like a wheel, and can hypnotize a person into doing something or seeing an illusion. The user also gains an intense but photogenic memory of whatever they see while the Quirk is active, and can learn what they see. Does not help understanding in application, but does also have a sort of future-sight of up to about a minute in an active situation. The users eyes become irritated after extended use, and results in temporary vision loss after deactivation. The user can also be overstimulated from the amount of information the quirk records, which can result in a meltdown, anxiety attack, a delayed seizure, and/or vomiting.

 

I did read Naruto (up until the reverse harem jutsu vs Kaguya... I got bored to tears, it's a wonder I made it that far, and Boruto? who is this man pretending to be Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage?), but my knowledge was a little shaky and no nearly as in depth as it could have been (this was just a fun idea!) but this is what I was thinking somewhere down the line Izuku would know about his Quirk. I don't think I was ever gonna have like the Naruto world being a long time ago or anything like that, just let it be a Quirk, and I'd decide how it worked afterwards. I think he was gonna have the Sharingan like Uchiha Shisui, though, but perhaps once a year. How he would have figured that out? No idea, but it would have been a fun thing to explore in a society that might have wanted to use it to 'reform' the worst of the worst villains.

 

> User, when quirk is inactive, now has epilepsy. Intensifies emotions, and can cause mood swings or emotional numbness due to overstimulation. Seizures aren’t always an either-or thing: Some people have seizures that start as one kind, then become another. And it’s not easy to classify some of them: These are called unknown-onset seizures, and they can cause both sensory and physical symptoms.
> 
> **Complex partial epileptic seizures** : confined to a larger region of the brain than simple partial seizures, impaired level awareness about surroundings, usually involves the temporal lobe.
> 
> glassy stare and lack of response  
>  inappropriate or confused responses to questions  
>  sitting, standing, or walking aimlessly  
>  lip smacking or chewing motions  
>  unusual vocal sounds  
>  fidgeting  
>  Partial seizures with secondary generalization are focal seizures that spread to both sides of the brain causing a grand mal convulsion. Except for beginning locally and spreading, partial seizures look the same as the generalized tonic-clonic seizure, described below. Many families describe a complex partial seizure as the patient’s “small seizure” and the convulsions that result from secondary generalization as “big seizures.”

 

I definitely wanted there to be a big draw back to the Quirk, and epilepsy was the end result. Somewhat easily triggered, epilepsy. Hence the chewing and unfocused eyes Bakugou noticed in Chapter Six, and thus Chapter Nine. But here's a chapter I wanted to write but got stuck on! 

 

> It's a brief flash, a sparkle zap of electricity. Nothing harmful, just built up static that Kaminari uses to charge his phone on occasion, but. Then again.
> 
> A scuffle, a yelp.
> 
> “ _Midoriya_!”
> 
> A hush befalls the cafeteria, the only noise as people jump up, and surround the fallen boy. He'd slipped right from his seat without more than a small noise.
> 
> He's seizing, that much Satou knows, and he's the first to roll him over onto his back amid his panicking classmates. His eyes are open, staring ahead, but he's so still outside the erratic rise and fall of his chest. A stark contrast to his own, as Satou’s been told by Kouda on the horrific but thankfully rare occasion.
> 
> Distantly he can hear people calling for a teacher, for Recovery Girl, but it's a faded sort of noise as he starts the count on his wristwatch. Satou doesn't even notice Abe or Butcher until the former slides his bundled up blazer under Midoriya’s head. The other boy gives him a pinched grin, fangs bared, and. Oh, that explains the calm, how his hands don't shake, breathing even.
> 
> One minute.
> 
> Two.
> 
> Three—
> 
> Suddenly, Midoriya loosens, sags, and makes an incoherent noise at the back of his throat. His eyes squeeze shut, and after a moment, peeks one open.
> 
> “What happened?” he mumbles, wincing.
> 
> Butcher sniffs, and brushes tears from her eyes, but then the teachers are there. They're shuffled out of the way, Inui and Kan tugging them up, and the cafeteria is emptied despite lunch lasting for another thirty minutes.

 

Hence, the goggles. Which I hadn't looked into really on what they should actually look like, be made of, but I was also channeling Uchiha Obito so. Yeah.

 

The main things I wanted for this fic was one, Izuku gets in trouble with the Law eventually over the accidental misuse of his Quirk, two, I wanted to write Inui Ryo and channel a little bit of Kakashi, and three, make this Izuku interact with Shinsou Hitoshi before he gets a kick in the pants because, well. Let's be real, Shinsou would have either A: rebuffed any sense of commiseration with Izuku who  _could_ have had similar reactions to his Quirk as Shinsou clearly has, or B: been reluctant friends depending on who this Izuku is. A won out because this Izuku is based off that one panel in the beginning when he sees a crowd of people watch a hero fight a villain. Dark smudged eyes, sad, and probably thinking about his future being Quirkless and _not_ being a Pro Hero. Anxious, nervous, confidant but not.

 

But he would still be the person who acted in that moment when help was desperately needed, even if he doesn't get the life or death situation as in canon with Bakugou. The song lyric I used for the title captured that perfectly, I think.

 

I don't think Izuku and Bakugou would have ever reconciled or anything in this fic, though. They would be civil, and work fine if they ever got teamed up, but ever be friends 'again'? No. Definitely not. Canon!Izuku manged to put the bullying behind him, but this one wouldn't quite be able to forgive Bakugou in the long run, not completely, especially thanks to his now perfect recall memory :) because Bakugou would still be mean, and hostile for a time to come and it would just make it easier for Izuku to recall grade school.

 

Honestly, this Quirk would not have been good for the him at the time, and it probably would have taken years for him to not resent it, more than just a little. It's almost as if he'd met All Might, clung to his leg, and then didn't jump in to save Bakugou. I love All Might, but... yeah, that was definitely harsh. This Izuku is a ball of nerves and he would have graduated from Gen Ed, but only because Shinsou would have gotten into the Hero Course instead of him. But it would have been okay, even if there does seem to be... a glaring and  _huge_ different between the courses, considering recent chapters. 

I want to think they'd both end up against each other in the Sports Festival because Izuku would very much still push himself, and cause a similar incident like in canon. I think it'd end up in a tie since at that point, I don't think Izuku would yet think that he could do what Shinsou does with his Quirk, wouldn't have the muscle mass to just yeet Shinsou out the ring, but he  _could_ break free of it much like Genjutsu with his Sharingan. The complex point process theory was published in an article over the summer, and I thought it made sense how people could flare their chakra and escape Genjutsu depending on the difficulty. I'm not a scientist though, haha...

 

> The fist in his shirt tightens, and Izuku flinches. Again. Shinsou seems dimly amused, but not in a good way, not at all.
> 
> “I, I… I'd just thought—”
> 
> “You do a lot of that, don't you?” he says, soft, and Izuku stifles a whimper. “Always muttering about something. I knew you'd eventually approach me, though, once you heard my quirk. Similar, are we?”
> 
> Izuku knows better than to answer, and Shinsou smiles, let's go.
> 
> He dusts at Izuku, tugs at any wrinkles, and the smaller boy trembles. “We're nothing alike, so don't bother,” Shinsou continues, dryly, as if he's merely commenting on the weather. “You may be resigned to this… box, we've been put in, but I'm not.”
> 
> _I'll prove them wrong_ , is what he doesn't say, but Izuku hears it loud and clear, and, without meaning to, his quirk flares to life.
> 
> Shinsou blinks, eyes narrowing to amber slits. But. Izuku sees the abortive step back the other boy might have taken if voices didn't turn the corner and then abruptly _stop_.
> 
> “Yo, Midoriya, you okay, man?”
> 
> The moment is broken, and Shinsou’s face smooths into one of clear indifference. “See you in class, Midoriya,” he says, and turns away.
> 
> Kirishima, Uraraka, and Asui, watch him go with suspicious looks. Izuku’s quirk fades, but it's seared into his memory now, and the words are strangled at the back of his throat. _I'm not. I'll prove them wrong too. You don't have to go at this… alone_. But, Shinsou turns the corner, and the opportunity is lost.
> 
> “Midoriya?”
> 
> Izuku sniffs, and scrubs at his face. “I'm… I'm fine,” he says, and only then does he realize he's slipped to the floor.
> 
> Uraraka and Asui are standing over him, Kirishima crouched at his side, all three of them so clearly concerned.
> 
> “Doesn't really look like it,” Asui says, bland, and Uraraka shoots her a disapproving look. She merely looks back. “You're in Gen Ed with that guy, Shinsou. Heard about his quirk.”

 

At first, I was still gonna put him in 1-A somehow, but I didn't think I could swing it. I wanted Yoarashi to stay  _despite_ Todoroki and E****vour (fuck Enji Todoroki, man! Sorry if u like him! I don't!) and I like him a lot, and needed someone to fill in the class with so I could make it only one spot available once the grape rat got expelled. He got 1st in his exam section, so of course, he'd have been a shoe in, and I would have liked to see him and Todoroki possibly work things out sooner, maybe. He would have certainly been friends with Izuku, somehow.

But, yeah, 1-A somehow, and thus the League of Villains attacking!

 

> Izuku sees it coming, sees the black gathering like particles and stardust to the beginning of a star, but he's not fast enough to do anything about it. The villain snatches them up like errant puppies, and then they're _falling_.
> 
> Twisting, eyes safe from the wind, he spies a flailing ~~Mineta~~ , and then Tsuyu, a diving bullet. The water hits them fast and hard, but he pushes through the pain and churning blue to breach the surface with a gasp. There’s a loud cackle, but something wraps around his middle before a villain with a shark head can grab him. He hits ground, and rolls, once, twice, before hitting a wall. Water surrounds him, the gentle bobbing of a ship unmistakable.
> 
> Villains litter the glittering blue.
> 
> “Oh my god,” shrieks ~~Mineta~~ , landing beside him, Tsuyu’s tongue dropping him as quickly as she did Izuku. “What are we gonna to do?”
> 
> Wiping water from his goggles, Izuku scrambles up as Tsuyu watches from the railing, placid. He feels like his heart might just leap from his chest. “Something,” she says, and blinks. “They're waiting.”
> 
> “Why?” Izuku wonders aloud, surveys the bobbing villains. He can see the tension lining their shoulders despite their hungry grins, the miniscule wariness in their eyes. They're watching him and ~~Mineta~~ , ignoring Tsuyu. It almost feels like he can… can read their... “Do they not…”
> 
> They don't have a plan. They… They don't know their quirks. Why wouldn't they? Wasn't this planned…?
> 
> “All Might isn't here and he was their endgame. We're just unpredictable,” he realizes. “They don't know our quirks.”
> 
> ~~Mineta~~ sniffles. “I don't even know _your_ quirk besides you've got demon eyes, s’why you hide them.”
> 
> That stings. “It's for protection,” he grumbles, more defensive than he wants, but thoughts racing.
> 
> He's never tried a crowd this large, and he can't keep all of them in his line of sight to get them all at once. Maybe if Tsuyu threw him…? Izuku isn't sure her or her tongue has that kind of strength, and they can't risk it. Mineta is, is useful, but there's no way they won't figure that out almost immediately. Maybe…
> 
> “ ~~Mineta~~ , I need you to start using your quirk,” he says, and the smaller boy blinks owlishly. “Don't worry, I have a plan. Just throw them into the water.”
> 
> “And me, ribbit?” Tsuyu asks, pointing at herself.
> 
> “You're gonna get us to shore as soon as they start fighting.”
> 
> This is such a bad plan. But. It's all Izuku has. _Divide and conquer,_ he tells himself, and clambers up onto the railing, feet sure and steady. ~~Mineta~~ begins throwing, and the villains closest edge back, closer together, unsure. Cluster. Become within reach of _enough_ of the villains watching Izuku.
> 
> _The water is churning, frothy and muddied, whirlpools and riptides. Those beside you… who are they? You don't know them. Heroes? They're heroes!_ **_Fight them. That's what you came to do, right?_ **
> 
> The compulsion hits, and a villain with fins for hair turns on the two next to him. Yells pierce the air, and the water erupts into an all-out _brawl._ Izuku watches the shark jawed villain disappear beneath the blue, watches red replace the man before Izuku’s being yanked back.
> 
> “This is so messed up,” ~~Mineta~~ screams but Tsuyu has them both over the top of the ship, and then in the water.

 

 ~~Mineta~~ somehow survived until then, but yeah.  I also wanted him to make eye contact with Shiragaki, and I was probably mishmashing some Sharingans here, but, welp.

 

> The man makes eye contact, and Izuku is swallowed _whole._
> 
> _The sky drips with blood, floats back up to the clouds beneath Izuku’s feet. Everything lay in ruin above him, and the air is thick and suffocating, the breeze grey and flecked._
> 
> Someone’s crying.
> 
> gET ouT, _wavers the air, and the very air shakes._ GET OUT.

 

But, also, even though I think it was said clearly that no favoritism would happend for canon Izuku to get into UA, I'm pretty sure it still happened, even if a little. Certainly would happen in the fic, or consequences because of a glaring lack.

 

> Ryo scratches his head, and wrinkles his nose, unsure.
> 
> Honestly, it's quite the shame, in his opinion. The kid deserves props for his willingness to face danger. Heroes do it all the time, after all, and he likes the ball of nerves, but.
> 
> “You do know using your quirk without a license demands consequences, don't you?” he says, tone carefully light. “Even if it was in self-defense?”
> 
> The boy pales, freckles standing out. “I, I didn't mean to,” he stammers, hands clenching into the blanket. Recovery girl sends Ryo a pointed look from her desk, and he twitches his nose. “My… My classmate was in trouble, and I was s-scared.”
> 
> Nedzu and Aizawa share a look, Yagi sat dejectedly on the empty bed behind the curtain just out of sight. Ryo can only just see his pained face, drawn sharp and dejected in his deflated form.
> 
> “That villain didn't stop for months,” Ryo continues, and he bites down on the growl threatening his words. Midoriya sinks down into the bed. He doesn't think this is fair, but he's just a Gen Ed kid, not like anyone’s gonna do him any favors. No matter how much they want to. “That's why there are rules for this, kid. He could have died.”
> 
> Midoriya trembles. “I, I know,” he says, and still. Still doesn't make an attempt to defend himself. “I didn't… didn't mean to…”

 

But, I also wrote myself into a corner and mixed up 1-B with Gen Ed. I hadn't actually wanted to have to come up with a whole  _class,_ but I did. Made it small though, so small mercies, huh?

Marmalade Butcher was my first bnah oc! I made her when it first came out, but I will admit Abe Benjiro is my fave. Marmalade is 'hafu,' and it would have been something I made a point of in the fic, being multiracial myself and because it was important to me. Also, everyone appears older in my other quirkless!izuku fic, but I figure you'll see them if I need original characters. The last 2 aren't mine though! I scrambled to put this class together and asked friends to help come up with a few.

 

> **Danno Jomei** , “field gathering, spread light; quirk - Slip, body is like that of fog, mist or a cloud, and can slip through crevices. Does not include clothes, though if the crevice is wide enough, clothes are not a problem. She keeps a mostly humanoid form, but she has yellow glowing eyes and a wilo-wisp shaped head. Has trouble on windy days.
> 
> **Marmalade Butcher** , quirk Inversion - a lukewarm version of floor tilting, can invert “controls” like that in a game, better suited for enclosed areas and lone fighting. She doesn't want to do that kind of hero work, though.
> 
> **Abe Benjiro** , quirk - Contentment Exchange, can exclude an aura of calm/peacefulness/contentment in exchange for the emotions of people within a 5 foot radius in any direction. Isolating one person among many is hard, and the foreign emotions can be hard to work through.
> 
> **Oshiro Buatsuiko** , “big, sturdy, castle; heavy child” quirk Bulk Up - anything she touches increases in mass, and only while she touches it. There is a 30 second lag between when she lets go and the object/person returns to their original weight. She can determine how much, but she cannot stop it, and wears gloves and clothing to cover as much skin as possible, and has a muscly figure due to unintentional exercise. She is very dark sinned, with long feathery, hair that she hides her face behind.
> 
> **Ito Webisu &  Ito Hiruko**, “???, god of commerce/fortune”. Quirk - Probability, for 5 minutes she can increase the probability of success for any one action of herself or another person who is willing or an object. She has to reasonable, and nothing can be 100%. The 5 minutes can be spaced out on different tasks, and can be used again after an hour after full use.) twins?? fortune and misfortune? Fortune Twins, Fortune and Misfortune, can only work when used after each other? They have a very severe physical mutation, and look like small humanoid iguanas. They're light enough to ride on your back!
> 
> Name: **En Takeshi**  
>    
>  Age: 14/15/16  
>    
>  Gender: Male  
>    
>  Height: 5'6  
>    
>  Quirk: Flamethrower  
>  Basically a human flamethrower. Can shoot fire from his limbs, such as his arms and legs. Also can breathe fire as well. Body temp slightly higher than normal humans due to flame sac inside of him. Overuse tires him, and drys out the area that he uses; drinks a lot of water  
>    
>  Appearance  
>  Hair: Red (short like ojiro's but with an undercut)  
>  Eyes: Orange  
>  Build: Medium  
>    
>  Personality: May look like a slacker, but he's actually a very smart kid. He just likes to take the easy road when doing things.  
>    
>  Backstory:  
>  While En has no interest in being a hero, which is why he's in the General Studies class. Would rather just help his father with his company and eventually take over it when the time comes.
> 
> **Rika(First) Murasaki(Last)**
> 
> Quirk: Inner Eye
> 
> Hair: Lavender (Short like Jiro's but wavy towards the tips)
> 
> Eyes: Light lavender??? (Idk just a lighter shade than her hair)
> 
> Height: 5'0
> 
> Build: Small and petite
> 
> Personality: Semi-quiet?, is quiet when needed to be, talkative when it comes to casual conversation. Nice, likes to hang out with friends after school and on weekends
> 
> Backstory: Inherited a mix of her parent's quirks. (Mother has "foresight" quirk: can predict the future. Father has mutant quirk "focus" Literally has a third eye that allows him to see up to 3 miles away) So as a result she has a third eye above the other two and can predict future events.
> 
> Flaw: Her predictions are completely at random and she can't control what she sees. Also they tend to have no context and can be unreliable. Knows full well she can't become a hero with her quirk.
> 
> Likes: Reading, Movies (enthusiast), collecting crystals
> 
> Dislikes: Spicy foods, cats (allergies), when someone touches her crystals
> 
> Clothes: Likes to wear cute things.
> 
>  
> 
> * * *
> 
>  
> 
> “Got an interesting batch this year,” Kan says, settling at his desk next to Inui.
> 
> With a snort, Inui swipes a tongue over his jowls. “I'll say,” he agrees. “That kid, Monoma? Needs some serious work.”

 

I think that's all I had! I have a few more bits of where I wanted to go after Chapter 7, linearly, and of how Izuku would learn _some_ things about his Quirk before Exam da.. For their pre-test, Hound Dog was just gonna chase them all over the main building if they couldn't find him. He wanted them to work together to find him, even if they were on other teams, but no one gets it in the end...

I started Chapter 5 so many different ways for when Izuku would finally reach 1-C's class room. I sorta took it from my my own experiences, haha. The door was unlocked but it's true enough people will stand outside the door and wait if they don't see or hear anyone,  _espeically_ if they see someone waiting outside of it. I accidently caused my own class to do that one, I knew the door was unlocked but I felt like sitting in the hall until class. And, I've also assumed a door was locked when it was closed, and waited, and caused more people to wait outside with me until teh Professor came. Tru story bro.

Hound Dog was definitely napping in the unlocked room under the desk though.

 

> Izuku… God, he doesn't even know. He has a quirk. An unsettling one, his mom admits sheepishly, but an honest to goodness _quirk._ It's finicky and flaky, but Izuku's only just got it, and he has some time to figure it out, figure out enough to be accepted at Yuuei.
> 
> The truth spills out at the revelation, and Mom doesn't let him out of her sight the first couple of days after classes end. Which is fine, because together they're working it out. Slowly, slowly, but they are.
> 
> The first time she breaks free of a compulsion? Hypnosis? Izuku figures he has to actually _mean_ what he's trying to make others do, especially if they _don't want to._ It's easy to get her to wash the dishes or take a walk around the block, she does all that on her own already. But, feeling slightly mischievous, he tries to get her to let him go out, alone.
> 
> She teasingly pinched his ear for that one.
> 
> It's a nice quirk all around. Not super flashy like All Might’s, but it's good, it's all he needs. But he won't allow himself to be a liability. He can use his eyes only for so long right now, so he trains.
> 
>  
> 
> * * *
> 
>  
> 
> Pounding, Izuku wakes to someone pounding against a door. Somewhere.
> 
> Muzzily, he turns his face into his pillow. He'd thought he was exhausted before? This has nothing on it. Everything's _heavy,_ and he… there's a disconnect. His arm is numb, he can't…
> 
> The knocking stops. Voices _._ Izuku drifts for a while, too tired to care, then falls back to sleep. His dreams are fuzzy, lack any sort of definition, and he doesn't remember a thing the next he wakes up. Dim sunrise bleeds in through his curtains, stains the walls a pale blue. Izuku yawns, jaw cracking wide, and flexes his fingers under his pillow.

 

Bakugou was gonna make an appearance in the last bit, demanding answers, but I never could figure out how to do it... But onward to after Chapter 7 and Izuku's team running though class 1-A like a collection of bowling pins!

 

> Butcher turns the corner first, gives a soft breath of surprise, and immediately backpedals into Izuku much harder than he thinks she means to.
> 
> Her Quirk has to do with velocity and inertia, but Izuku doesn't think she's had much practice with it besides slamming body first into things. His chest aches at the thought, and he stumbles back.
> 
> Abe huffs behind them, the brief swish of his tail. “What now?”
> 
> And it's this:
> 
> Just around the corner, there are four people. Two are standing, uniforms rumpled, but the biggest of them pins one to the ground, twisting their arms behind their back, knee to their spine. Their voices carry away from them, but Izuku flares his Quirk anyway. Wild red hair, and then a throaty laugh that's half a bark. He knows who this is. First block must be over.
> 
> “Oh no,” he whispers, and Butcher and Abe jerk. “Hound Dog.”
> 
> Butcher pushes between him and the wall. “What? Seriously?” she hisses. “What're we supposed to do now?”
> 
> Good question. It's as much a competition as a Hunting scenario, but. Izuku balks at the idea of not helping _somehow._
> 
> “He didn't say we couldn't take him out,” Abe hums. “He only said we had to find him before he found us. So. Ambush?”
> 
> Butcher has a clear shot, which is great. The only thing is then she'd be separated once she knocked Hound Dog away. It'd take too long to go around, and by then, who knows what happens after you get caught? Signaling the other team might give away the element of surprise. What to do, what to do…

 

Marmalade can 'cannonball' into people using her quirk! I need to reword it better, but she can change gravity around herself in bursts, and uses it to mainly collide with people really, really  _fast._ Her Pro Hero name was gonna be Pinball or Cannonball.

 

> Five people cluster around it, around something small and yellow attached to the shut door.
> 
> “I'm not sure what I expected,” grumbles one boy, red hair cut short and shaved on the sides. Izuku watches as he rolls a flame between his fingers, idly, before snuffing it out in his fist. “Guess I should have figured...”
> 
> A boy with purple hair makes a noise, grin lazy under lidded eyes, anything but friendly, and walks off without so much as a word. A literal cloud makes unsure gestures, eyes bright yellow orbs radiating within frothy grey. Izuku pauses far enough away, anxious.
> 
> The last two shrug, a girl with a short bob and a boy with slicked back hair. The tips of fangs peek just below his lips, curved and sharp as he says, “Well, two teams of two ain't bad.”
> 
> With a sigh, the cloud deflates, and then points at Izuku. The four turn to him as one, and he raises a hand in greeting. He's not sure what his face must look like.
> 
> The girl bounces up to him, nearly a full foot shorter, and grins. “Hey, hey, you know anything about who the teach is supposed to be?” she asks, and he shoots a helpless look back to the others. He gets a smirk and shrugs. “Name’s Marmalade Butcher, by the way!”
> 
> Scratching at the loose black hair by his ear, the boy with the fangs shakes his head. “Other way, Marmalade,” he corrects, and she throws him a mock glare. His peaceful expression doesn't change for the twitch at the corner of his lips. “Don't mind her. We're just pondering the wacky task we've been assigned. Abe Benjiro, nice to meet you.”
> 
> “En Takeshi,” offers the red head, and straightens his uniform blazer. His eyes sweep over Izuku before cutting to the cloud boy. Takeshi hooks a thumb at him. “Danno Jomei, and she wears the boys uniform for wind protection.”
> 
> Danno gives a peace sign, hands a fluffy white in contrast to her head.
> 
> Izuku ducks his head, suddenly self conscious. _Don't mess this up!_ “Midoriya I-Izuku,” he replies, and bites his lip as Butcher huffs, taps a foot. “And, um, I don't know…”
> 
> Abe makes a wavy gesture at the door. “They left a note,” he says, and Izuku takes that as an invitation to venture closer.
> 
> It's strange though. His anxiety seems to bleed off, if only a little, the closer he gets. Izuku gives a minute shake, and leans in past Danno and Abe, squints.
> 
> The note says, _Ever played Sardines? You have until noon to find me, and you can work in teams of three. Whoever doesn't find me gets punished!_
> 
> _Signed,_
> 
> _H.D_
> 
> And then there's a little drawing of a puppy. It's… cute, if crudely drawn.
> 
> “I love games,” Butcher chirps, and Izuku watches her loop arms with Abe. “Abe and me are a team, and En and Danno are a team, but you can join our if you want.”
> 
> “Oh, um,” Izuku starts, and darts a look between the four, “what about the guy who walked off…?”

 

I really couldn't decide how I wanted them all to meet...

 

> “Of course,” ‘Abe’ says, and slouches, the tips of fangs poking below his lips. He runs a hand over his slicked back hair, and gives Izuku and the other kid a considering look. “You both in 1-C?”
> 
> Izuku gives a nervous nod, and out of the corner of his eye the cloud in clothes gives a double thumbs up.
> 
> The girl hops from foot to foot. “I'm Marmalade Butcher,” she says, and then mock punches Abe in the arm. “And this tall drink of water is Benjiro Abe.”
> 
> “Abe Benjiro,” he corrects, and she pouts. “Butcher Marmalade.”
> 
>  

I think I settled on this though, eventually... but then I didn't like it and now I'm here, funny, huh?

 

> He loses thirty minutes backtracking.
> 
> 1-B is empty, desks vacant of students and teacher, and it's too much to hope better of 1-A when he pokes his head in. Maybe they're doing something similar? It’d make sense. In however it could, but. The pressure mounts like rocks to a pile each minute that passes and he hasn't found a single clue. What if punishment is expulsion? What if, if he gets this far only for everything be swept out from under him, just like that? Izuku peers miserably out a window, who knows how many floors up from his classroom, slowing to a stop.
> 
> Yuuei is so big, larger than life. He can see a track from here, a wooden area, and more buildings holding who knew how many aspiring heros, all in their own way. The determination from earlier flags, and.
> 
> It's strange. His worry seems to dissipate, an eclectic ease relaxing his body much to his alarm. Which… Which slips away too, like water between his fingers, and then it's hard to be anything but… okay.
> 
> “H-Hey, you in 1-C too?” wobbles a voice, and Izuku turns. It feels like he's walking through a peaceful blue, slow and languid. Anxious black eyes look him over. “Wow. This… This is some serious stuff you, you got going on.”
> 
> Bouncing forward, a girl shoots the other boy a concerned look. “He seem to know anything, Abe?”
> 
> Abe. Izuku focuses in in that, eyes narrowing behind his goggles. “What are you doing?” he says, voice even. When's the last time he managed to say anything without a stutter or hiccup? If ever? _What's going on_ \-- “What…”
> 
> It's receding, the fog, the haze. The anxiety and the stress slithering back in. Izuku swallows against a fresh wave of tears, blinks it away as best as he can. Oh. A quirk. Emitter-type? Emotion based. An exchange? He gives a minute shake. Izuku knows he's a mess, so that can't have been fun.
> 
> Abe slowly relaxes, the tense line of his shoulders slumping. “He doesn't seem to…” he says wryly, the tips of fangs just visible, and eyes Izuku lazily. “Keeping all that bottled up isn't good, pal.”
> 
> _Tell me something I don't know_ , Izuku thinks bleakley.
> 
> With a huff, the girl braces her hands on her hips. “Well, at this rate we won't find H.D,” she says, and purses her lips.
> 
> Ah. Fellow classmates. Apprehension is beat down by curiosity, and Izuku slowly draws his hands up in appeasement. “You haven't figured out who it is?” he ventures, halfway unsure, but it's invalidated when they both look back at him with an intense interest.
> 
> “And you have?” Abe asks, blinking slowly. A pointed ear twitches when Izuku doesn't immediately respond. “No?”
> 
> How can he trust them? They hit first, and asked questions after. He's not sure how well that speaks of them. But. The clock is ticking, and it's just the two of them.
> 
> Izuku clears his throat. “Um, do you have a third teammate…?” he asks instead, and they both stare at him in astonishment. Heat coils at his collar, and Izuku looks away with a nervous chuckle. “I just, just thought maybe… pooling resources, y’know.”
> 
> The girl jabs a finger at him, grin mischievous and smug. “I like you,” she says, and then nudges Abe. “C’mon, he knows something we need to know, and he wants a team, he seem up to it?”
> 
> Abe hums, and rubs a hand over his slicked back hair. “Can't hurt,” he says.
> 
> Famous last words.

 

This next bit was a different way I was thinking of taking Chapter 5 after Izuku met Uraraka again on the first day of classes.

 

> He passes 1-B, the noises coming from the doorway as he passes clear it's full. Izuku staves off taking a peek inside, and he has to wander for another ten minutes before he finds 1-C at the changeover from Heroics to Support. The room is… not full, to say the least. He's not sure, but if he's remembering right, Gen Ed has much smaller classes as a given. And the potential to move up to the Heroics department.
> 
> _I'll move up, I will_ , Izuku promises himself, takes a deep breath, and walks into the room.
> 
> A few people look up at his entrance, and Izuku has to stifle the urge to _really_ look at them, to commit them to memory. But, new experience says maybe it's not a good idea. There's not much to tell him about their quirks, though. In the back, a boy with bright red hair twiddles with a flame between his fingers. Fire quirk? Not too far sits a hulking figure, uniform baggy despite it, and studiously ignoring a girl chattering on at the desk next to them, leant back in her chair. By the window, a wispy cloud for a head and misty hands staring out of the window. Giggles pull his attention to two near the front, a short and chubby girl poking at a boy with the tiny tips of fangs poking out of his lips.
> 
> Unsure, Izuku settles down gently next to one of the few who didn't look up. The boy doesn't react, but from this angle, Izuku can see that he's watching a cat video on his phone.
> 
> Gold eyes snap up, and Izuku quickly looks down, heart flipping within his ribs. He takes out his phone, and when nothing is said, actually unlocks it and sees that he has a few messages.
> 
>  
> 
> _Have a great first day, Izuku!! <33 _, is from Mom, and he shoots back with a heart of his own.
> 
>  
> 
> The other is from an unknown number, but not. _I think we share lunch! Let's eat together, some people want to met you! This is Uraraka btw._
> 
>  
> 
> _Okay, I'll look for you,_ he texts, vaguely apprehensive because who wants to meet him? A loser? But, when she doesn't answer in the next few minutes, Izuku puts his phone away after checking his email and Hero Alerts.
> 
> One more student wanders in just as a bell dings somewhere, but so far their teacher hasn't arrived. At least, that's what Izuku’s thinking until there's a dull _thunk_ and a wild head of grey-black hair pokes up from under the desk at the front of the room. He can just see a familiar snout, sharp teeth.
> 
> _A dog?_ is the thought that immediately crosses his mind—
> 
> “Ow,” grumbles a voice, and no. Not a dog. “Ugh, overslept.”
> 
> The figure stands up, and runs a hand along the back of their head in a languid stretch before turning around.
> 
> “Hound Dog?” Izuku blurts, and then slaps a hand over his mouth.
> 
> Everyone is looking at him now, and Izuku literally wants to disappear, but Hound Dog merely laughs. “Oh? Heard of me have you?” he says, grinning, and props both hands on his hips. “Well, yes, I’m the pro-hero Hound Dog,” and he enunciates this with a short howl,” but as your homeroom teacher, you can just call me Mr. Inui, or Inui, I'm not terribly picky.”
> 
> Dazed, Izuku nods. Pro-heros for teachers, even in the General department.
> 
> Inui sniffs, and looks over the room. “Hm, short a couple, but expected,” he says, and then claps his hands together. “All right! Classes A and B have the field until lunch, so, let's get to know each other!” He immediately points at Izuku with a clawed finger. Those hands have stopped villains, and rescued untold scores of those in need. “You first kid: what's your name, quirk, likes, dislikes, goals or dreams, go!”
> 
> Admiration evaporates like mist, and mentally, Izuku stumbles. “Uh, um,” he says, heat coiling at his collar. Oh, God. “Midoriya, I-Izuku, um, I like analysing Heroes and their battles, and eating katsudon, and I don't like… green tea kitkats.” He takes a small pause, feeling ridiculous, and continues, “My dream is to be a hero like, like All Might, and my quirk… um, I can hypnotize people?”
> 
> The boy next to him grunts, but Izuku doesn't dare look anywhere except at Hound Dog, too nervous to even consider seeing what his new classmates think.
> 
> The pro-hero blinks, suddenly thoughtful, but only nods in the end. “Good job, Midoriya, and now you, purple hair.”
> 
> Izuku withholds a wince. ‘Purple Hair’ gives a somewhat gusty sigh as he turns gingerly.
> 
> “Hitoshi Shinsou,” he starts, bland, looking stoically ahead. Izuku doesn't feel like he imagines the brief dart of Shinsou’s eyes. “Brainwashing quirk, I like cats and dislike tests, and I want to be a hero.”
> 
> And, then he puts his head back down atop his arms, for all intents and purposes done. Izuku files that away,suddenly and probably naively hopeful at a possible friend. New school. New friends. Anything can be possible.
> 
>  
> 
> Right?
> 
>  
> 
> Hound Dog snorts, but gives another nod. “Short and sweet, I dig it,” he says and then points to where two students are clustered. “You two gossiping hens, let's hear it.”
> 
> The girl grins while her friend gives a lazy smile, and they give each other a sly look before she stands up in her chair, foot planted on the desk. “Marmalade Butcher,” she announces, and then pauses. Brushes at the black hair that slips from behind her left ear. “Oh, well, Butcher Marmalade, and I love going to karaoke and dislike the amount of time it takes to prepare any food. My quirk is Inversion, or reversing of reality. I want to go into search and rescue.” Another pause, and then she points with mock hostility around the room. “Don't make fun of my height, or you'll regret it!”
> 
> That startles a few laughs out of the class, Izuku included. Butcher sits back down, clearly pleased, and then elbows her friend, who didn't laugh.
> 
> He yawns, fangs baring wide, before blinking slowly at the room. “Abe Benjiro, and yes, my parents had big ideas for my name, and no I'm not a vampire,” he admits to a couple of chuckles, and rubs at a pointed ear. “I like chick flicks and the color blue, but dislike nuts because I'm allergic. I want to be an underground Hero, work negotiations, or be a therapist. My quirk is Contentment Exchange. I can exclude a bubble of… calm or peacefulness, in exchange for the emotions of those around me.”
> 
> Is it bad Izuku’s writing this all down? He never… never got to talk with others about quirks before, but it's all so fascinating to ponder the possible applications of peoples powers. Maybe he's still overcompensating. God. Is this creepy? He hopes not.
> 
> “You, cloudhead, yes you, in the back,” Hound Dog calls, but they make an X with their arms, a clear refusal. “Oh, well, this’s a participation grade, so write it down for me and turn it in by the end of class.“ His attention moves to the last four of the room sitting near the door. “Alright, you with the—"

 

I couldn't decide how I wanted it to go after either! But Izuku's team did not win, that's for sure!

 

> It hurts, a nauseous twisting and itch at the back of his throat, as Izuku is bodily carried into 1-C. His goggles dangle around his neck, and Abe gives him a helpless look as he and Butcher are dropped at the front of the room. Time’d run out, and it's an honest to God blur but absolutely horrific five minutes when out of nowhere Hound Dog himself came dashing around the corner.
> 
> They put up a fight, but it’s laughable and pitiful, put to an end so quickly. Abe sprawled on the floor, legs swept from under him; Butcher a carrening cannonball sent spinning into the wall, and then Izuku, eyes spinning but reaction time too, too _slow_.
> 
> At least they're not the only ones, he realizes as he picks himself up and blinks dazed at the smattering of classmates.
> 
> A ruffled trio sit stiffly in the front. A girl fusses with her hair, black strands standing on end, unlike the lavender haired girl glaring daggers at Hound Dog. The boy next to them rubs gingerly at the back of his head, orange eyes narrowed at his desk.
> 
> “Teamwork makes the dream work!” Inui barks, and Izuku’s glad he's not the only one who startles at the volume. “Midoriya had it in one--you're all going to be working with lots of different people one day, and you're gonna have to work together despite any differences!”
> 
> From the back, Oshiro raises a hand, her eyebrows draw up in confusion. “Then why would you tell us we could compete?”
> 
> Inui’s nose twitches, and he looks over them, expectant. Izuku has a guess, but suddenly he's not sure he wants to be known as the know-it-all.
> 
> It takes another long moment, but then Butcher throws up her hand. “To see if we would help each other anyway,” Butcher blurts before Inui can call on her, hands theb slapping onto the desk. “Sneaky!”
> 
> That earns a few chuckles, Inui huffing with his own brief laughter. “Exactly!” he agrees, and waves a hand. “I see so much… discord from the heroics department as the Lifestyle Guidance teacher, and let me tell you, so many are only thinking of getting ahead sometimes, it's worrisome. This is my first year as a Homeroom teacher and I want to do better.” He narrows his eyes at them, muzzle wrinkling. “Not to say I'm disparaging my coworkers… but the industry has such a ‘lone wolf’ mentality sometimes.”
> 
> Danno waves a hand for attention, and everyone quiets so her voice can carry. “So, so what happens now?” she says, a whisper caught on a breeze. “My team didn't find you…”
> 
> Takeshi and Oshiro on either side of her wince.
> 
> Gleefully, Inui claps his hands together. “Right, time to dole out punishments,” he chirps. “You get to do double the amount of exercise your classmates get to do.”
> 
> Izuku blinks. Someone croaks a dismal, “what?” somewhere behind him.

 

Couldn't decide!!!

 

> Izuku fidgets in his seat, lip drawn viciously between his teeth.
> 
> At the front of the class, Hound Dog gives them all a very successful dour look, deeply unimpressed and disappointed.
> 
> “I ought to expel the lot of you,” he says, fangs bared in an unfriendly grin. “Two people actually found me, and then only a few of you really worked as a team. It's the least I can say that I'm highly disappointed.”
> 
> It's hard not to shrink in his seat, and Izuku doesn't quite manage to stop himself from looking away. His classmates as a whole seem distraught, if not indignant and horrified. Abe and a boy with purple hair are the only ones seemingly unaffected. But with what Izuku knows about Abe's Quirk now, it's not much a surprise. Purple hair had found Hound Dog almost from the get go, after all. He'd just not… deigned to share with anyone else. Which. Fair. If the rest of them aren't smart enough to consider that Hound Dog might've been hiding in plain sight, than even Izuku doesn't think he can fault him.
> 
> _Pathetic,_ he thinks to himself, hands curling tight. He'd been so close, if he'd just gone into the classroom--
> 
> Inui surveys them, nose twitching. “Anyone got anything to say for themselves?”
> 
> The furthest from the front, seated in row three, a girl with long silver hair raises an arm corded with muscle.
> 
> “Oshiro, yes?”
> 
> Oshiro nods, single eye peering forward from behind overly long bangs. “I think that it's too soon to deem us without potential, y’know,” she says, an even but soft timber. “We can still prove ourselves, if given time…”
> 
> Next to her, a kid with a wispy and foggy cloud for a head gives a thumbs up.
> 
> “Yeah, I agree with the beefcake,” pipes up another girl, her hair a lighter shade of purple. “It's our first day, and all.”
> 
> Inui gives them all another hard look, as if wondering why they'd dare to question him, before there's a wrinkle to his lips. The expression melts into a soppy grin, tongue lolling as he laughs.

 

And, well, that's all! I hope this is coherent enough. I really did enjoy writing this, but I'm the  _worst_ at writing multi-chapter'd things that require extensive plot. Maybe I'll come back to this someday, maybe I won't, but I'll be marking this unfinished in the tags and then complete chapter-wise. It's been a good run, but don't count me out for BNHA fic, I have hundreds of pages of stuff I've yet to post, haha.

 

Thanks for everything, and happy holidays!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a bnha blog on tumblr, if anyone wants to come yell about Quirk applications and quirk troubleshooting @ yallmightjr, or on my main blog @ paperhyena. I also made a discord server, but I'm not 100% sure how to run one, but I do have account and am active, soo, yeah!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always welcome!


End file.
